5 Ways To Prevent Tooth Decay

Tooth cavities are painful and can lead to significant oral diseases if not treated. They are formed through the action of complex, undesirable bacteria that invade between the teeth due to accumulated foods and, more significantly, sugars.

These bacteria feed on sugar-containing foods and drinks and release acids that dissolve the tooth’s outer covering, the enamel. When the outer layer–enamel, is eroded or removed, the bacteria can invade deeper into the tooth structure, reaching the cementum, nerves, and roots, thus causing sensitivity.

Generally, it’s easy to avoid tooth decay if one practices oral hygiene and has the right food regimen. Oral hygiene is something that human beings must by no means overlook. It, therefore, entails cleaning the teeth and gums, flossing in the morning, and going to a dentist for a checkup as soon as a month. It is also suitable to contact a dental care specialist, and it is also encouraged that your dentist makes a decision to maintain your teeth in great condition.

1. Brush and Floss

The American Dental Association is a number of the many sources that encourage brushing teeth at least two times a day using fluoride-containing toothpaste.

Moreover, it’s recommended that you brush for not less than 2 minutes every time you brush your teeth. Rinsing your teeth, preferably after each meal or after consuming soda or any other sweetened product, helps reduce food residuals and plaque formation.

Brushing your teeth twice with a toothbrush and dental paste is crucial, but that is not the end. You have to brush your teeth and make sure that you floss those teeth between them, even at the back. Cleaning spaces where your toothbrush has no reach is made possible through flossing. Moreover, it helps clean the interdental triangle area and eliminates small food particles between the teeth.

2. Visit Your Dentist Regularly

Family dentists often recommend that people pay them a visit for a check-up at least every six months. You should go to a dentist after six months but the best thing is practicing proper oral hygiene then, you may never have tooth decay at all.

Dental check-ups and cleaning are essential compared to going through pain and spending more time, many hours, and even money on dental procedures. Such visits are most useful in scrubbing out firmly stuck stains and polished or hard deposits between the teeth and below the gum line. Your teeth will also be healthier after your appointment, and you can breathe fresh air.

They are also effective because they can identify and fill cavities during the appointment. Dental fillings can reconstruct and strengthen your teeth and save you from any mishap, such as tooth decay or loss. These dental fillings can be used to restore caries, damaged or chipped teeth, and worn or abraded teeth.

3. Complete the Required Water Intake

Fruits and vegetables have high vitamin and mineral content, low fat, and fewer calories. They help to clean the mouths. Eating foods like apples and pears or veggies like celery and broccoli benefits our mouths by giving the teeth a workout to wash away the plaque and bacteria coating them.

Refrain from taking snacks or sips of sweet drinks so often between meals. There is a lot of doctor’s advice regarding how many meals one should take daily. Many nutrition experts recommend that four to six meals a day is ideal.

However, three meals can do the trick. The problem arises when we take snacks in between, besides having full meals, especially during the day. Every time we use our mouths to eat something, we leave many more food particles.

When we drink beverages like cola or fruit juice, sugar sticks on our teeth. This means that taking snacks in between main meals also has the potential to cause weight gain and exposure to dental caries, also known as cavities.

You must have come across many articles on how many glasses of water are recommended for a person to take a day. For instance, we should take 11.5 to 15.5 cups of water daily, depending on sex and weight.

Drinking water benefits the body by enhancing human pumps’ efficient and effective functioning. Also, it aids in removing food deposits left over in the mouth. In other words, water is the healthiest beverage for your teeth.

4. Chew Sugar-Free Gum

A good thing you get from chewing gum is that if you are a snacker or a nervous muncher who always puts his/her hands in your mouth, this will prevent that. Top of this list is gum, which has a lot of sugar, and as you know, taking too much sugar is harmful to our teeth.

Chewing sugar-containing gum is undesirable because it adds more sugar to the teeth, but chewing sugarless gums can help meet such needs and stimulate the secretion of saliva to wash off bacteria or food particles. One should not expect chewing sugar-free gum to replace brushing one’s teeth twice daily or flossing each morning before retiring to bed.

5. Consider Sealants or Fluorides

The next time you attend a dental health clinic, you should ask the dentist to explain the procedure or recommend a sealant or fluoride coating for your teeth. Although they may not be the total cure for tooth decay, sealants are inexpensive in preventing tooth decay in some parts of your mouth; hence, they are used to protect the teeth.

Fluoride guards your teeth against the negative impact of plaque bacteria and the acid they create, which causes commercial cavities. And depending on how bad your bite is, that dental sealant could last you many years.

Conclusion

The condition of the oral cavity is very important for general health. One should perceive visits to the dentist as friendly checkups from the perspective of one’s health. Coming to the dentist every 6 months can help note any signs of tooth decay early enough, and they can be treated before developing into more serious issues.

Further, if cavities are not treated on time, the person often experiences very bad toothaches and severe infections in the mouth. This may cause intricate therapies or, in the best-case scenario, lead to the extraction of your precious teeth. Contact Beaumont Dental Office for all your dental needs.